Perception
by UntoldStories113
Summary: Truth be told, he did not LOOK half as fearsome as he told them he was. But he was so CONFIDENT that it just had to be true. (Monsters University spoilers)


**Timeline note:** Set around the Scare Games kickoff.

**Dedication:** This one goes to my best friend. For enduring my excitement over things she's not excited about and for being a constant mood lifter. :) Thank you for existing!

**Note:** This might be subject to a rewrite in the future, so don't be confused if things get changed around.

* * *

"Dreaming of being part of a second family? Why, fellas, then Oozma Kappa might just be exactly what you have been looking for!"

Squishy had been afraid that the area in front of the School of Scaring would be less crowded than the Frat Row, but he need not have worried. Students were running around the place, some laughing, others doing last-minute cramming for some test, still others sneaking up on friends to frighten them. The entire square was a bustle of life.

"Think of all the fun you could have with afternoon activities and pajama parties!"

They had not brought any cake this time. On the few occasions that they managed to keep some of it for more than ten minutes, people had shot them rather disapproving looks. Others were clearly amused, and one of the freshmen had slowly backed away from the offered treat as if afraid he might be poisoned. Whatever the reaction was, though, the cake never seemed to get anyone excited to join them. Not to mention that with the rate they were going through them, buying the ingredients had become rather costly, and as none of them was really good at baking, his mom had spent a lot of time in the kitchen adding her own bit of help to the goal of finding new friends for their fraternity.

"We welcome everyone with open arms!"

But as relieved as he was about not adding to his mother's workload anymore, at least the cake had given him a chance to be useful. Now he was just standing around, holding balloons and smiling at the passers-by. He had no idea how the others managed to look so sure about doing it.

"Join Oozma Kappa! It's gonna be a dream come true!"

Don was still trying to appeal to potential new brothers. Squishy admired him for speaking in public so confidently. Sure, he had been a salesman – actually, he was still doing it as a part-time job. But in Squishy's opinion, that was not an "excuse" for having that kind of talent; in fact, it was even more of a feat to have meticulously nurtured the skill and brought it to perfection. Squishy wished he could be just as secure about the words he chose.

Don was about to make another carefully selected announcement, but was rudely interrupted by a few seniors passing by in the distance.

"Would you shut up already, old geezer?! No one wants to join your kindergarten!"

Don hesitated. It seemed to Squishy as if he was trying to decide whether to deflect the insult or nonchalantly ignore it.

"Oh, this is a waste of time," Terry muttered. His twin looked at him with a frown, his face crumpling rather rapidly at the sudden declaration.

As much as Squishy loved his brothers, sometimes he wished Terry would stop saying things that got everyone down. "You don't know that!" he argued. "We're just not doing it right! Surely, if we found the right way, someone would want to join!"

"I'm with Squishy!" Art declared, waving his balloons around. "We just need to keep trying."

Squishy smiled at him, grateful for the support. It made him feel special.

"They're probably just preoccupied!" Terri pointed out with a smile that did not really look cheerful to Squishy. "Aren't the Games starting right about now? Maybe they're not paying us any attention because they're eager to see the kickoff!" Then his face lit up for real. "Hey, maybe we should go and watch! It's gonna be cool!"

Even Squishy realised that the excuse only really applied to today. No one had joined them on the previous days, either.

Terry frowned. "I don't know. I thought it was pretty scary how half of Omega Howl had to be carried out of the amphitheatre last year."

"Yeah, but it was also really awesome!" Art declared, grinning. "I've never seen so many ambulances in one place before!"

Terry smirked at him before turning back to his twin. "Anyway, I really don't feel like watching and getting involved in that kind of chaos again. The Games aren't everything they're made out to be, anyway!"

Terri averted his gaze, biting his lip. "You wouldn't be saying that if we were in them," he said under his breath.

Squishy could see Terry's eye widening at that. Apparently, Terri had struck a nerve there. Both of them fell silent at once. He wished he could say something to cheer up the twins, but nothing would come to his mind.

Truth be told, he had dreamed about entering the Scare Games. He had not seen last year's events, but they sounded fun and his brothers would be by his side during all the tasks. Not that the other fraternities weren't scary, though. He had noticed some of their members on campus, and most had a truly terrifying appearance. But then again, the Games weren't about fighting, were they? They were supposed to be a friendly competition, right?

As was so often the case, it was Don who broke the uneasy silence that had settled over them. "Fellas, there's no way," he stated, quietly but firmly. "The rules make it clear that we cannot enter the Games with a group of five."

And that was all there was to say on the topic, really.

Squishy averted his gaze, biting his lip. He knew, of course, that it was not just their numbers. He knew no one really thought they could do this. Not that _he_ was anything special, but sometimes... sometimes, he really wished others could see how cool his brothers were.

With a lot of sighing, they silently agreed on finishing up for today and started collecting their things. At least they got some fun out of it, as Art engaged him in a game of who could pop the most balloons. Squishy giggled at all the small explosions, and heard Art burst out with laughter when he got one of the deflated balloons in his face.

"Yeah, don't mind the ones carrying off the heavy booth!" Terry called over good-naturedly, but Squishy knew his brother did not really mean it; nor did he need any more help than that of Terri and Don.

"Hey, watch it!" Art shouted, waving to get his attention before pointing to a spot behind him. "It's no fun if you're letting them get away!"

Squishy turned around and saw that one of the balloons had managed to escape its imminent fate by fleeing down the sidewalk. Squishy ran after it to catch the elusive item, but before he could reach it, one of the passing students had caught its string. Apparently, the guy had seen that he had tried to get a hold of it, and now he waited patiently for Squishy to approach him.

Squishy beamed at his temporary saviour. "Thanks!" He then snatched the offered string, wrapped his arms around the balloon and squeezed with all his might. And unsurprisingly, it popped with a loud bang.

The guy jumped at least a meter at the shock, then narrowed his eye at him. "Hey, if I'd known you wanted to get rid of that thing anyway, I wouldn't have bothered."

"Sorry," Squishy laughed. "It's just a game."

"Squishy, c'mon!" he heard Art's voice behind him. "How do we know who popped more balloons if you keep spacing out?"

"You're one to talk!" Squishy called back, turning around and waving over his shoulder to the guy before trotting back to his brothers. "So what's the count now?"

"Err, I don't think I've been keeping track!" Art admitted, grinning.

"Wasn't that the point?" Terri teased while he and the others came back over to join them.

Squishy smirked. "Well, at least we cleaned up the..."

"Ahem."

Squishy blinked at the unexpected sound and turned around to find his balloon catcher standing behind him, waiting to be noticed. He felt himself getting a little nervous. What did the guy want? Was he angry at being startled? "Um, can I help you?"

The stranger clasped his hands behind his back and gave a small smile. "Yes, I think so. I'd like to join."

There was a collective gasp from the entire group. Squishy himself found it hard to breathe properly. Join? That monster wanted to join? Join _them_? "Um, are you sure?"

The guy chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure. I mean, you _are_ Oozma Kappa, right? The guys with the, er, unique looks? And the green and yellow colours? And the balloons? And the cake?"

Squishy felt all his blood drain from his face in horror. "We-we-we didn't b-bring any cake today," he stammered, mortified at their lapse. Why? _Today_, of all days... "B-but if you're patient, we can stop by our house and..."

He fell silent when the guy raised a hand. "Relax, I'm not here for the cake, I just want to make sure I've got the right guys."

Squishy saw Terry shoot him a brief look. The older twin seemed a little distrustful, for he crossed his arms with his brother's and turned back to their conversation partner to narrow his eye at him. "Then why _do_ you want to join us, if I may ask?" he inquired politely.

The stranger's smile never faltered. "Of course you may ask. Name's Mike, and I'm looking for a fraternity that can help me win the Scare Games."

Neither of them really knew how to respond to that.

This time, it was Art who broke the uneasy silence, curiosity written onto his face. "And you think we're the guys who are gonna win this?" Oh, so Art knew about everyone's opinion, too.

The guy took a deep breath. "Well, as far as I know, Roar Omega Roar and Jaws Theta Chi are already signed up, so they both have six members and wouldn't need me. Omega Howl aren't competing after last year's fiasco, Slugma Oozma Python are only three people at the moment because of a bunch of seniors graduating last semester, and Gamma Roar Roar are _more_ than six and can't decide who to exclude, so they're not joining at all to avoid fighting among their members." He shrugged. "Looks like you're my best choice."

His _only_ choice, by the sounds of it. He had sure done his research.

"Anyway," he continued, "I'm gonna win the Games as a way to get back into the Scaring program, but I can't compete unless I'm part of a fraternity!"

Squishy felt sudden affection for this guy. He had had to leave the program? That must have been hard. They all knew how that felt.

"I'm not sure that's the way this works," Terri pointed out hesitatingly. "Aren't you supposed to already be part of a fraternity when you decide to tackle the Games?"

This was the first time, Squishy noted with interest, that the smile slipped from the guy's face a little. "Oh, don't get me wrong," he was quick to assure, "I very much want to be in a fraternity, too! It's gonna be, er, totally cool to be with a bunch of friends! It's just, you know..." He sighed. "I _need_ to get back into the program. I've had to leave it for something another student did. I didn't even get a chance to take the exam, and I had to leave anyway, despite knowing everything and being able to perform every single one of those scares perfectly. It wasn't fair."

Squishy saw Art's features soften at once. "No, that's not fair," their resident philosopher agreed solemnly.

"I think I've seen you on campus," Terry offered. "You keep hanging out with some purple monster, don't you?"

"Lizard," Terri provided, for of course he would have had a hard time missing things his twin noticed.

The stranger's features lit up. "Oh, Randy," he answered. "Yeah, sure, we hang out a lot."

"If you're out of Scaring, then what's your major now?" Art wanted to know.

"Fellas!" Don cut in, staring at his brothers incredulously. "Why are ya'll making this an interrogation? We're looking for members and Michael here says he wants to join! What's the problem?"

No one answered, but Squishy thought he knew what the others were confused about. This monster seemed just so unimposing, and yet he loudly declared that he was one of the scariest out there and going to win the Scare Games. The two just did not seem to go together.

Terry coughed. "Well, in that case… I'm Terry, written with a 'y', and my brother here's Terri with an 'i'. These are Don and Art, and the one over there's Squishy."

Squishy saw the guy's gaze wander over each of his brothers when their names were mentioned and felt himself shrink under the short scrutiny when it was his own turn. If he had known that this was someone who wanted to join them, he would have known better than to pop the balloon right in his face.

But it did not take long for the stranger to avert his gaze and talk to the group as a whole again. "Pleased to meet you. Now, should we get going?"

They exchanged confused glanced at the question. "Erm, going?" Terri finally repeated, sounding a little nervous.

The guy rolled his eye. "Well, I need to sign up for the Games, right? And one can only register until the kickoff, so we need to hurry. I think Hardscrabble's gonna be there, and she really needs to realise that she can't just go mobbing and kicking out students as she damn well…"

"_Now_ I know who you are!" Terry burst out with a wide eye. "You're the one that destroyed Hardscrabble's scare canister!"

"I – am – not!" the guy shot back hotly before anyone had had time to let Terry's announcement sink in. "That was that damn idiot, _I_ didn't destroy a thing!" He bit his lip. "I mean, sure I was involved, but if _he_ hadn't provoked me, it would never have happened, and _he_ was the one stupid enough to trip over my books and crash the canister! And Hardscrabble has _no right_ to kick me out for another student's ego!"

Squishy was startled at the magnitude of the sudden outburst. This seemed to be a touchy topic.

Apparently, the guy had also realised that he had lost control of the conversation, for he obviously made an effort to get a grip on his emotions again before continuing. "Anyway, I need to show her that I do belong in that program, and if she doesn't give me the chance, well, then I'm just gonna have to win those Games and force her to acknowledge me."

Terry crossed his arms with his brother's again. "Well, you certainly don't lack the poise," he commented.

Squishy thought he saw something in the guy's eye flicker. Somehow, it felt as if he was annoyed at Terry for having an opinion. But that was ridiculous – everyone was entitled to have one and there was nothing he could do about it. "Whatever, I mean it, we're short on time. Do we have a deal?"

They exchanged glances at the question, but Squishy did not really expect anyone to object. They wanted new members, and they were all excited about the prospect of getting a shot at the Scare Games, so why would they?

They did not seem to have noticed what _he_ had noticed. They trusted this monster.

Don smiled at their soon-to-be new member. "Well then, Michael..."

The guy raised a hand to stop him. "Please. It's Mike."

Don gave a slight nod. "Very well, Mike." He cleared his throat. "If you're so sure you want to be part of a fraternity, then I assume you're at least a little familiar with all the formalities that go with joining?" And he launched into a lengthy monologue about group activities and housing and paperwork.

Squishy saw himself unable to suppress the helpless jealousy that overcame him, but not because of the current topic. Don did not use nicknames. They were still Scott and Arthur and Terence to him. What had this stranger done to deserve this kind of special treatment?

But it was no good to be thinking like that. _Don't worry, Squishy_, he told himself. _Don regards him as a potential customer. If a customer asks you for a special address, you don't deny him the request._

But it still did not make him any more inclined to be lulled by this guy's story.

He could see clearly that the stranger was currently in the process of becoming more and more annoyed by the official part of joining a fraternity before he finally interrupted Don. "Look, I'm aware there's legalities involved, and I promise I will fill out all the necessary paperwork or whatever, but if I want to sign up for the Games, I _really_ need to hurry. Can't we just go over there and postpone the other stuff?"

Don looked as if he was going to sigh, but he caught himself in time. "You promise?"

Now the smile was back on their conversation partner's face. He seemed to realise that he had won. "Yes, I promise."

Don looked over his shoulder at his brothers. "In that case, I don't see why we should dawdle. Should we go over to the fraternity houses?"

"Um," Squishy interjected, and had to catch himself a little when suddenly, everyone's eyes were on him. "I-I think we should go home first and tell mum that we're gonna be late..."

The guy was clearly displeased about the suggestion. "Look, Slimy..."

"Squishy!" he corrected indignantly. Could that person not remember what he had _just_ been introduced as?

"Squishy, right," was the impatient reply. "It's not gonna take very long. We just go there, I sign up, and we're out. And then you can go right over to your mother while I go and fetch my stuff. Sound like a plan?"

When no one else argued against it, Oozma Kappa's newest member gave another smile, turned around, and skipped ahead, seemingly sure that they would follow.

And so they did. What else should they do?

Absentmindedly, Squishy listened to his brothers' chatter, trailing behind them a little. Apparently, he was the only one bothered by the recent development, and he could not understand how they managed to be so cheerful.

Squishy was not sure he liked this guy. Oh sure, he seemed nice enough. Truth be told, he did not _look_ half as fearsome as he told them he was. But he was so _confident_ that it just had to be true. And what he said about them getting a chance to compete in the Scare Games sounded just too good to be believed.

But then, when he got caught up in the moment, he would lapse into "I"s and "me"s and kind of zone out for a second. Squishy was pretty sure he was using them, and wondered if his brothers did not see that. Or did they not care? Sure, the story he had told them was heartbreaking. He felt for this guy, he really did. He wanted to help him.

But this was a stranger, and also one that did not seem to understand what fraternity life truly meant. As much as he wanted to help this person, he was not going to let a stranger hurt his brothers in the process.

_Their_ brothers? Did this guy truly understand what he had just agreed to?

"By the way," Art's voice reached him through his haze of brooding, "who else noticed that we're being followed?"

Squishy blinked. _Being followed?_

"Hard to miss, the way he keeps glaring at us," Terry quipped.

Terri threw a nervous look back over his shoulder. "I don't think he means us," he observed in a whisper. "It looks to me like he's staring at Mike." He turned back around and shuddered. "Boy, that guy's _scary_."

Now Squishy threw a look over his shoulder himself and instantly realised whom they were talking about. Terry was right, he really _was_ hard to miss. He probably was the most intimidating monster Squishy had ever seen, but it was less his tall build or the horns and claws and more the fact that he was radiating an aura so powerful that several passers-by backed out of his way when he approached. And what was with that stare?

Terri seemed to be right, too. It really did look as if it was their new brother he was following. Strange.

"Welcome to this year's Greek Scare Games kickoff."

They all raised their heads at the announcement that reached them from not too far away. Their new member bit his lip, sped up and tried pushing through the crowd of monsters in front of them. "Excuse me, would you let me pass? Sorry, I just... excuse me..."

Most of them ignored him, some actually pushed him away. Either way, it did not look as if he was getting through any time soon.

"Good afternoon. As a student, I created these games as a friendly competition…" That was Hardscrabble's voice. Or at least Squishy thought it was. He had only really seen her at the end-of-semester exam that he had failed.

"Isn't it too late now that they've started?" Terry inquired.

Their new brother bit his lip. "They said until the kickoff. They didn't say until _before_ the kickoff."

"...so good luck, and may the best monsters win."

Before anyone knew what was happening, he had swiftly climbed onto a nearby car.

The male announcer had taken his microphone back from the dean. "All right, everybody, we're closing down signups, so we'll see you all…"

"Wait!" their new brother interrupted loudly and waited a moment until all heads had turned around to him before going on. "_I'm_ signing up."

Squishy could not help but admire him for getting everyone's attention so effortlessly, and his brothers appeared to feel the same way. Everyone else, however, had promptly erupted into hysterical laughter.

The female announcer seemed confused, but at least she was nice enough not to laugh. "Err… you have to be in a fraternity to compete."

But their newest member had already proven that he was aware of that fact. "Behold," he countered with a dramatic gesture. "The next winning fraternity of the Scare Games! The brothers – _my_ brothers – of Oozma Kappa!" And with the last words, Mike indicated them.

All five of them fell silent, when suddenly, everyone's eyes were on _them_. Were they expected to say something now?

"…hi," Squishy tried tentatively with the tiniest of waves. Out of nowhere, another balloon demonstrated a perfect sense of timing by deflating and landing right on his face. Maybe he should not have popped its friends.

Dean Hardscrabble started descending the stairs to the stage, but she paid them no mind. "Mr. Wazowski, what are you doing?"

Mike did not even flinch when she approached him. "You just said the winners are the most fearsome monsters on campus. If I win, it means you kicked out the best scarer in the whole school."

"That won't happen," Hardscrabble told him quietly and turned her back to him.

Squishy narrowed his eyes at her. It was true, she was not fair.

But Mike did not seem put off by her rejection. "How about a little wager?" he insisted and she halted. "If I win, you let me back in the Scaring Program."

Squishy felt himself balling his fists in anticipation. That had been the goal all along, right? Now to see if she was really as unfair as she seemed.

Hardscrabble turned back around. "And what would that prove?" she inquired flatly.

Mike held her gaze. "That you were wrong."

Whispers broke out everywhere in the crowd at his boldness.

"Is he crazy?" Terri, too, breathed in worry.

But Squishy was watching Hardscrabble, and he could see clearly that she would not just leave the claim unaddressed. "Very well," she finally answered. "If you win, I will let your entire team into the Scare Program."

"What?!" Terry yelped.

Squishy stopped breathing. Mike's entire team? Weren't _they_ his team? They had all failed her exam! She must still know them, right? Surely, she could not mean…

"But if you lose…" she continued pointedly, "you will _leave_ Monsters University."

Almost simultaneously, all members of Oozma Kappa turned their heads to stare at Mike. It was obvious that he did not take the question lightly, but it was not long before his expression gave way to determination again. "…deal."

And none of them had really expected him to back down from this. _They_ had managed to somehow settle for other majors, but for Mike, it was obvious that Scaring was his entire life. If he could not get back into the program, then there was no point in staying at the school anyway.

Hardscrabble turned away from him again. "Now all you need to do is find enough members to compete."

Mike threw them a brief, confused glance. "We need six guys, right?"

Squishy liked her less and less. Mike was right, she was a bully. But before he could point out that she must have miscounted them, the male announcer got back into the conversation by way of his microphone. "Sorry, chief. We count bodies, not heads. That dude", and he rudely pointed a finger at the twins, "counts as one."

Out of the corner of his eyes, Squishy could see the twins exchanging mortified glances. Why did no one ever see that they were _two_ people?

He expected Mike to defend them, to point out that they were six after all, but Mike had already turned to the crowd, asking for someone else to join. Yes, it was probably better to not waste time. No one ever bothered to understand anyway. In what he hoped was a comforting gesture, Squishy silently took Terri's lower hand, and was rewarded with a small smile from the younger twin.

"Randy!" Mike suddenly yelled, causing Squishy to turn back around again. "Randy, thank goodness, I need you on my team!"

Squishy raised his head. Randy? Was that not the friend Mike had mentioned? Well, that had been easier than he had thought.

He tried to see over the crowd of students and, thanks to the twins' description, made out the monster Mike was addressing, but he was too far away for Squishy to hear what he said. But he _could_ see that that person was wearing a ROR jacket and slowly backing away to join his group, and that Mike's face was falling. He seemed really upset, and it took no genius to figure out that his request had been denied.

"What a jerk," Terry said under his breath, and Terri was also glaring. Apparently, their hearing was better. Squishy made a mental note to ask them about the actual words later. Then again, maybe not. He did not need those to know that this idiot had just disappointed Mike.

But even that did not stop Mike from reaching his objective. "Please, anybody! I need one more monster! Just one more!"

"Yeah, sorry," the female announcer cut in over the speakers, "it doesn't look good. We have to move on. Your team doesn't qualify."

"Yes, it does!"

Squishy's head whipped around in time to see the guy that had been following them climb onto the car behind Mike, almost throwing him off balance. "The star player has just arrived!" he announced. Wait, what?

"It can't be!" Don whispered excitedly.

"_That_ guy?" Art blurted out with wide eyes. "With _us_?"

But Mike did not seem to agree with the newcomer. "No way! Someone else, please, anyone else!"

The female announcer seemed to have had enough. "We're shutting down signups, okay? Is he on your team or not?"

Mike turned to look at his pursuer who, in turn, was grinning down at him. After a long pause, and with great effort, he seemed to come to a decision. "F…ine, yes, he's on my team."

Squishy felt he should have asked them about that before deciding that on his own. Then again, he must have known they wanted this, too. Plus, they were all completely dumbfounded at this recent development. Someone _this_ scary, in _their_ fraternity?

Hardscrabble was smiling now, so maybe she was not all that bad after all. "Good luck," she wished before turning around a final time. Hey, that had actually been nice, right?

The new guy was still grinning when Mike turned back around to him. "All right, Wazowski – what's the plan?"

Mike did not answer. Instead, he jumped down from the car and maneuvered through the now dispensing crowd to approach his new brothers again. But he was probably expecting the blue guy to follow him, which he did – a lot more effortlessly, in fact, as for him, the crowd seemed to part.

Don was the first to speak when they arrived. "Mike… what did she mean, your entire team…?"

Oh, wait, yes. Squishy had completely forgotten about that at the prospect of getting someone so scary as a new brother.

"Yes, that's what she meant," Mike sighed. "If I can keep my end of the bargain, you're all gonna be scaring majors. Anyway…"

"James P. Sullivan," the big guy cut in by way of greeting. "Friends call me Sulley. So how do we go about this?"

Most of them, Squishy included, were unable to answer as they were staring at him in awe.

Mike glared up at him, but it seemed a little half-hearted. In fact, he suddenly looked very tired. Squishy wondered what that was about. Maybe the conversation with Hardscrabble had been harder on him than he had wanted to let on? "I was about to move in with them," he snapped, "and you should probably do the same. Meet me at the entrance to the dorms in one hour or I'm leaving without you." He turned back to the others. "Anyway, you can go on ahead and tell Softy's mother where you were. I won't be long."

Squishy rolled his eyes at the butchered nickname, but it was no big deal. He was sure Mike would learn.

"We'll be waiting for you," Don promised and watched as the two new additions to their fraternity wandered off to fetch their things. "Mike is right, we should be going," he added to the rest of them a moment later.

They waited a few minutes for most of the people to pass. Had the two announcers even finished with their event? Or maybe Mike's interruption had gotten them so sidetracked that they saw no point in trying to regain control of the moment? But not too long after, the square was empty enough for them to start going home without fear of getting trampled.

Squishy was about to start walking, but felt someone pull his collar from behind. "Squishy, watch out!" Before he knew it, the car that Mike had been standing on zoomed by, narrowly missing him.

But he did not spare the car one thought. Instead, he turned around to stare at his rescuer, for the voice had been Don's. "Er… thanks?" What was with the sudden nickname?

Don frowned down at him. "Scott, are you all right?"

That confused Squishy even more. Don seemed to be switching back and forth between nicknames and given names. He wondered why he had never noticed that before. "Um, sure. Let's go." This time, their exit was, thankfully, unhindered.

"Well, look at that," Art mused aloud. "Nothing for so long and then two new brothers in a day!"

"And we're part of the Scare Games!" Terri yelled, waving around. "How cool is that?"

"Let's just hope we don't end up the same way the OH guys did," Terry quipped, but he, too, was grinning.

"That blue fella looked pretty menacing," Don observed. "I bet it's gonna be a great benefit to have him on our team!"

"Yeah, he's totally scary!" Terri agreed cheerfully. "Did you see those claws? Or the fangs?"

"It's his presence," Art threw in wisely.

"Yeah, let's hope he doesn't scare _us_," Terry joked. "Why do you think he followed Mike in the first place?"

"Maybe he wanted to join us from the very beginning?" Terri suggested.

"Who cares?!" Art laughed. "He's _scary_!"

Squishy completely agreed with them. Yes, it was totally great that a monster like him had chosen them for his fraternity! But that was not the only good news of the day. „Well, I don't know much about that other guy, yet, but it's gonna be great having Mike around!"

Art stopped and turned around to stare at him in mild confusion.

Squishy halted as well and felt sweat forming on his temple. Had he said something offensive? "What?"

"Nothing," Art replied slowly, falling into step beside him again. "It's just that I was pretty sure you didn't like him."

Well, leave it to Art to pick up on things like these. "I didn't," Squishy admitted. "But that doesn't matter. I just didn't know him yet."

"And what makes you so sure about him now?" Terry inquired over his shoulder.

"…he called us his brothers," Squishy whispered.

The twins both turned their heads to smile at him. As did Don. Art, too, now that he thought about it. Why was everyone smiling at him as if he had said something childish? Could they not _see_ how incredible it would be to have a new brother?

Two of them, actually. Mike and James seemed to know each other, and if they were friends, then James must be a good person, too, right?

"He sure did, Squish," Terry agreed. "Finally seems to have gotten through to him what fraternities are all about."

Squishy blinked. Hey, so they _had_ picked up on that.

"Maybe we should throw a party!" Art suggested. "Get another round of balloons, make a cake... and we could build a fort!"

"Mike said he didn't want any cake," Squishy piped up.

"And you two destroyed our last balloons," Terry added.

Oh, yes, and Mike had not liked that game one bit. Better to not have any balloons at all.

"But the fort seems a nice idea," Terri agreed. "I'm in."

"It can't be _just_ the fort," Terry argued. "Sulley doesn't know us yet, he needs to see that we can be scary! Maybe something creepy, some kind of ceremony or..."

"That sounds awesome!" Art yelled in excitement and the two of them started going over ideas to make this a memorable occasion.

Squishy smiled serenely to himself while he listened. He agreed with the others, they really needed to make Mike and James feel at home with them. Mike, especially, obviously needed them, and Squishy was prepared to do everything to make sure his new brother reached his goal. If he could help in any way, he wanted to do it.

Because who cared about the circumstances? His family had grown!


End file.
